Elevator.



1. E. BIOYCE.

ELEVATOR.-. APPLICATION FILED :uuzjz, I914.

. Patented Feb. 1, 1916. 1] 12 6:.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

%VEIVTOR WITNESSES:

.l. E. BOYCE.

ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE'IZ, 19M.

Pawlma' Feb. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES P M J fiw A ORA/EV on'rrnn TA PATENT QFFIGE JOHN BOYCE, OF PEEKSKILL, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY,

OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, .A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ELEVATOR.

,' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

Application filed June 12, 1914. Serial No. 844,629.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. BOYCE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Peekskill, in the county of WVestchester and State of New York, have invented a new and'useful Improvement in Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to elevators, and is particularly directed to a safety device for safeguarding the lives and limbs of persons at a floor landing.

An object of my invention is the provision of means for preventing the movement of an elevator car away from a floor landing while the landing door or other closure is in'open position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for preventing the opening of a landing door unless and until the elevator car be at rest adjacent the corresponding landing.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a safety device which is simple, practical and efficient, and comprises but few parts, all of which are of rugged construction which makes for reliability and cheapness. 1

A further object ofmy invention is the provision of a safety device which is entirely free from complications both mechanical and electrical, and which may readily be applied to elevators being installed or to those already installed with a minimum of labor, time and expense.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a safety device for landing doors which dispenses with the usual dangerous high tension electrical circuits lead ing throughout the hatchway and also elimis; nates the customary series of electrical-tho-mo tacts associated with each of thefdandingii doors which have always 'beerisa constant source of trouble and annoyance ..-i

Other objects of the invention Lil appears hereinafter, the novel combinations'iof" 'ele j ments being po t d outin thea'fannexediu claims. I

'In theiaclcompanyinghdra ing Figur gnarnmaticallylana ele'e'tri'ga 53.15.;

i controlled elevator installation arranged to serve three floors and containing an embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation view of a landing door in closed position and the cooperating locking mechanism; Fig. 3 is a view of the cam mechanism carried by the elevator car which co-acts with the door mechanism; Fig. 4 is a side section view of the cam taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side section of Fig. 3 taken on the line 55 and showing the electrical contact operated by the cam; Fig. 6' is a fragmentary'plan view of Fig. 3.

Like reference numerals denote similar parts in all of the figures.

Referring to Fig. 1, I show an elevator car C in which is an operating switch 2 adapted to control the movements of the car. This switch is supplied with current by the conductor 8 which is connected through the contacts of the'safety device and the contacts of the switch 2 to the conductors 4 and 5 leading to appropriate starting, stopping and reversing switches (not shown) for directing motive power to'effect the operation of the car. The latter is shown at the second floor landing with the door 1 at that landing in open position, the doors at the first and third landings being shown in closed position.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 6, inclusive, it will be seen that upon each and every landing door is provided a horizontal bar '6, one end of which is bent in the form of a with cad stud; vl lriavh'i cliaoarrieseaurolleri123 From one side of the levlrlfizextendsh anernail hen/18: lwll'lol riistslightlytremoved %ff'om'r.con

tactiwitlibtl'ie: lolweriendz arleverril4l'o llhe i mentiuvithsrespectotorthe rdlleitrilfl .oit 2th hook 7 the end.of;which,extends aboveithe to b" r oes'wilthin th'ees 5 lever 8. A finger 19 is secured to one side of the lever 8 and engages the offset end of the lever 14.

The cam mechanism carried by the elevator car comprises a trough shaped member 20 which registers with the rollers 12 and 18 and is preferably made of sheet metal bent to form and having its sides extending somewhat beyond the base and flared outwardly as shown, so as to facilitate the entrance of the rollers 12 and 18 in the cam trough. The cam is secured to a squared member 21 which is adapted to slide horizontally in a pair of supports 22 and 23 secured to a side of the elevator car. The bracket or support 23 is provided with a pair of spring contact clips 24, 24, which are insulated from the support and are adapted to be placed in electrical contact With a contact button 25 carried by the sliding member 21 and insulated therefrom as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The operation of the device is very simple, and may be described as follows: lVith the parts in the same relative position as shown in full lines in Fig. 2 it will be seen that upon attempting to open the door 1 by moving it in a left hand direction, the hooked end of the bar 6 tends to swing the lever 8 in a clockwise direction. A slight movement of this lever carries the member 13 into contact with the end of the lever 14 which latter obstructs the further movement of the lever 8 andconsequently prevents the opening of the door, this condition represents what takes place when one attempts to open a landing door when the elevator car is not adjacent the corresponding floor landing. Should the elevator car be adjacent a floor landing, the cam 20 on the car will be in such position that it embraces both of the rollers 12 and 18 carried by the levers 8 and 14, respectively. Assuming such to be the case, if one attempts to open M the landing door, the initial movement of the same will slightly rock the lever 8 and the roller 12 will move the cam on the car in a right hand direction. As the cam thus moves, the roller 18 is caused to move, and the lever 14 is swung out. of interfering position with respect to the lever 8. The latter may now ride up out of the hook 7 and onto the flat upper surface of the bar 6 on the door and the door may be moved to full open position. The levers S and 14 and cam 20 will assume the position shown in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be seen that a slight sliding movement of the cam in a right hand direction carries the contact 25 out of electrical engagement with the contact clips 24, 24, hence when the door is in open position it becomes impossible to close a circuit by way of these contacts, and the elevator car cannot be started in either direction.

In moving the door to closed position the upwardly extending point of the hook 7 on the door engages the lever 8 and positively returns it to vertical position, and in this manner all of the parts are returned to normal position and the circuit to the car operating switch may be closed through the cam contacts 24, 25, the door once more being locked in closed position as soon as the car moves away from either one of the rollers 12 or 18. The finger 19 carried by the lever 8 insures that the rollers 12 and 18 shall return to normal position in vertical alinement independent of the action of the cam 20. It will be observed that my invention provides a simple, practical and reliable safeguard for all of the landings of an elevator system. The car cannot be operated if a door be open, and a door can not be opened unless the elevator car be adjacent the landing and the cam thereon embraces both of the rollers. Should one attempt to open a door while the car is in motion opposite a landing, the initial opening of the door immediately interrupts the controlling circuit and the car comes to rest and cannot be further operated until the door first be entirely closed. The device contains but four principal parts, namely, the locked bar 6, the levers 8 and-18, and the cam 20, each of which is of more than necessary strength. All movements of parts are posi tive in action and all springs, catches, and other delicate parts are entirely eliminated. Only a single contact device is necessary, regardless of the number of floors served by the elevator and hence there is no necessity for the usual high tension electrical wiring in the hatchway, and the usual contact mechanism associated with each and every door is done away with. This latter feature is of particular advantage, since the door contacts have always been a frequent source of trouble which is ofttimes difficult to locateand when located and corrected is sure to give future trouble due largely to the inevitable swelling or shrinkage of the doors or door casings or both.

l/Vhile I have disclosed a preferred arrangement of my invention, I desire not to be limited to the precise construction and arrangement of parts herein disclosed, since it is obvious that one skilled in the art could readily make various changes therein with out departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

lVhat I claim is l. The combination with an elevator car, a floor landing, a door at the landing, a lever pivoted above the door, means on the door for rocking said lever about its pivot, a member normally locking said lever against movement, and means on the car coacting with said lever and locking member and adapted to move said locking member the door toward open position.

2. The combination with an elevator car,

a floor landing, a door at the landing, a lever pivoted above the door, means on the door for rocking said lever about its pivot, a member normally locking said lever against movement, and a cam on the car adapted to register -withsaid lever and memberv when the car is adjacent the floor landing, where by a movement of the door toward open position carries said locking member out of locking position.

3. The combination of an elevator car, a floor landing, a door at the landing, a lever pivoted above the door, means on the door for rocking said lever about its pivot, a member normally locking said lever against movement, rollers carried upon said lever and member, and a cam on the car adapted to engage said rollers when the car is adj acent the fioor landing, whereby a movement of the door toward open position efiects a movement of said cam to remove said looking member from looking position.

4:. The combination of an elevator car, a floor landing, a door at the landing, a lever pivoted above the door, means on the door for rocking said lever about its pivot, a pivoted abutment in the path of movement of said lever, rollers carried upon said lever and abutment, and a cam on the car adapted to register with both of said rollers when the car is adjacent the floor landing, whereby a'movement of the door toward open position effects the withdrawal of said abutment from the path of movement of the lever and thereby permits the opening of the door..

5. The combination of an elevator car, a floor landing, a door at the landing, a lever pivoted above the door, a pivoted member normally locking the lever against movement, rollers carried by said lever and member arranged in vertical alinement, a can on the car adapted to register with both rollers when the car is adjacent the floor landing, means on the door for positively rocking said lever upon its pivot and thereby effecting a movement of said cam to remove said member from locking position to permit the opening of the door, and means carried by the lever for restoring said member to locking position independently of the said cam.

6. The combination of an elevator car, a floor landing, a door at the landing, a lever pivoted adjacent the door and adapted positively to be moved upon its pivot both in opening and closing the door, means for normally locking the lever against movement, a cam on the car adapted to be carried into operative relation with said lever when the car is adjacent the floor landing, whereby a movement of the door toward open position causes the cam to effect the unlocking of the said lever" to permit the door to be 7 fully opened.

7.. The'combination of an elevator car, a

floor landing, a door at the landing, a lever pivoted adjacent the-door'and adapted posi tively to be moved .upon its pivot both in opening and closing the door, meansfor normally locking sald lever against movement to prevent "the opening of the door,"a cam 'on the car adapted to be carried into operative relation with said lever and locking means when the car is adjacent the floor landing, whereby a movement of the door toward open position effects a movement of said cam to unlock the lever and permit the door to be fully opened, a controlling circuit for the car, and a switch in the car control-- ling circuit opened by said cam when the door is moved to open position.

8. The combination of an elevator car, a.

floor landing, a door at the landing, a controlling circuit for the car, a switch in said circuit, a cam on the car adapted to operate the switch, a lever pivoted adjacent the door and adapted to register with said cam when the car is adjacent the floor landing, means on the door for positively moving said cam to open the car controlling circuit when the door is moved to open position, and a member controlled by said cam for normally locking said pivoted lever and the door against movement.

9. The combination of an elevator car, a floor landing, a door at the landing, a con trolling circuit for the car, a normally closed switch in said circuit, a cam on the car operatively connected to said switch, a leverpivoted adjacent the door, a. pivoted member adapted to lock said lever against movement, rollers carried by said lever and member arranged in vertical alinement with each other and with the cam, and means movable with the door and engaging one end of the lever for simultaneously moving said lever, cam and locking member to effect the openbe fully opened.

l0. The combination with an elevator car, of a floor landing, a door at said landing, a lever pivoted adjacent the door and positively operated thereby, means for locking said lever against other than a slight movement, and a cam on the car co-acting with said lever when the car is adjacent a floor landing whereby a movement of the door toward open position automatically unlocks said lever and permits the door to be fully opened.

11. The combination with an elevator car, of a floor landing, a door at said landing, a lever pivoted adjacent the door and positively operated thereby, means for locking said lever against other than a slight movement, a cam on the car coacting with said lever when the car is adjacent the floor land'- 110 ing of said switch and permit the door to V I & 1,170,403

ing whereby a movement of the door toward name to this specification in the presence of open position automatically unlocks said letWo subscribing Witnesses.

ver by a movement of the cam, a controlling circuit for the car, a normally closed switch JOHN BOYCE 5 in said circuit and an operative connection Witnesses:

between said cam and switch. JAMES G. BETHELL,

In testimony whereof, I have signed my ARTHUR TREzIsE, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

- Washington, D. O. 

